5 comments to “Should I turn my filter on while cycling my aquarium?”

1. Lindsay wrote:
   19. December 2010 at 3:33 am :

   You want to keep the filter on so bacteria can build up in the filter media, that’s where most of it will be.

2. Gary C wrote:
   21. December 2010 at 12:12 pm :

   You should run the filter while doing fishless cycling (or any other cycling).
   That’s the whole point. Cycling establishes a healthy colony of bacteria that will carry out the nitrogen cycle. Some of these bacteria are in your tank, but the most important ones are on the surfaces of your filter media.

3. Ianab wrote:
   22. December 2010 at 10:17 am :

   It’s actually the filter that you need to cycle. Thats where the bacteria that create the cycle are going to live. The tank is just a thing that holds the water, and the water is just water.

   It’s the filter you need to get started, so switch it on or you will just have a tank full of stinky stagnant water after a week.

   Ian

4. Chester<3 JoBros..kill me plz wrote:
   23. December 2010 at 4:58 am :

   ud end up with bacteria solely in the substrate be it gravel or sand and not in the filter plus w/o the filter to agitate the surface of the water the water will go stale and there would not be enough oxygen to support a large colony of bacteria

5. Peter K wrote:
   29. December 2010 at 5:42 am :

   yes keep it running that way it grows good bacteria to help break down what ever gets in the filter but when you shut off the filter you start to kill all of the bacteria.